Page:The last of the Mohicans (1826 Volume 2).djvu/210

 "Do you think the bullet of that varlet's rifle would have turned aside, though his sacred majesty the king had stood in its path!" returned the stubborn scout. "Why did not the grand Frencher, he who is captain general of the Canadas, bury the tomahawks of the Hurons, if a word from a white can work so strongly on the natur of an Indian?"

The reply of Heyward was interrupted by a deep and heavy groan from Munro; but after he had paused a moment, in deference to the sorrow of his aged friend, he resumed the subject.

"The Marquis of Montcalm can only settle that error with his God," said the young man, solemnly.

"Ay, ay, now there is reason in your words, for they are bottomed on religion and honesty. There is a vast difference between throwing a regiment of white coats atwixt the tribes and the prisoners, and coaxing an angry savage to forget he carries a knife and a rifle, with words that must begin with calling him 'your son.'